The non-title matchup, which played out as most MMA pundits predicted, served as the featured contest of DREAM.17, which took place at Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan.

The evening’s 11-bout lineup aired live on HDNet.

Despite recently spending time training specifically in Muay Thai, Aoki stuck with his strengths and took the fight to the floor in the opening seconds. McCullough survived well underneath, keeping Aoki as tight as possible, but the “Tobikan Judan” found ways to sneak in both punches and open-hand palm strikes while smothering from the top.

The constant pressure – which left McCullough’s (19-8) nose a reddened, swollen mess – eventually forced the striker to expose his back, and Aoki (29-5) happily obliged before locking in a fight-ending neck crank with just seconds left in the first frame.

In the evening’s co-feature, Japanese superstar Tatsuya Kawajiri made a successful debut in the featherweight division with an impressive third-round finish of an always-tough Joachim Hansen.

The fight started well for Hansen, who stunned Kawajiri in the opening seconds and then missed as he charged forward with a flying knee. But as the bout carried on, Kawajiri recovered and began to turn the tide. Kawajiri nearly locked in a kimura in the closing seconds of the first round, and a takedown and top-game attack saw him in charge in the second.

Hansen showed signs of life in the third, again scoring with a few powerful strikes, but Kawajiri (29-7-2) took the fight to the floor and moved swiftly into an arm-triangle choke position. Hansen (22-11-1) held out as long as he could, but he was left with no choice but to tap with the choke securely in place halfway into the final round.

Inoue used unorthodox feignts and movements to keep Uno guessing, and he found a home for several stiff punches as the round played out. A short right hand in the early going saw Uno hit the deck, but he was able to regain his feet and recover. However, a right high kick to the button allowed for no such comeback. After Inoue (21-5) landed the massive blow, he simply walked away with his hands raised rather inflict any more damage on the helpless Uno (26-15-5).

Japanese MMA legend Kazushi Sakuraba dropped his fourth-consecutive fight, tapping out in the second round to undefeated submission ace Yan Cabral.

Sakuraba was rocked early on from a crisp Cabral left, and he would continue to be outstruck on the feet in the opening round. In the second, a feeble Sakuraba takedown attempt served as a stark reminder that “The Graice Hunter” is long past his prime. Still, Sakuraba continued to press forward, but it was Cabral who took the fight to the floor and set up in side control. An arm-triangle came shortly after, and Sakuraba had no choice but to submit to the undefeated Nova Unaio fighter.

Former Sengoku champ Satoru Kitaoka used effective early offense to score a split-decision win over onetime UFC vet Willamy Freire, but the result was anything but a sure thing.

Kitaoka pressed forward early with punches, kicks and takedown attempts, setting the tone of the fight while Freire appeared content to simply defend. Freire was never in any real trouble, but he remained too focused on defending his opponent’s attacks and neglected to launch any real offense of his own. That changed in the third round when a questionable yellow card seemed to light a fire under the Brazilian “Chiquerim,” but the impressive striking attack that followed turned out to be too little, too late, and the late-starting Freire (19-5) dropped a split-decision to Kitaoka (29-10-9).

Despite his opponent’s obvious third-round foul for rope-grabbing, which went uncalled, DREAM newcomer Gerald Harris scored a hard-fought split-decision result over Kazuhiro Nakamura.

Harris looked early and often to take the fight to the floor, but Nakamura proved capable in remaining upright and was there to answer with striking on the feet. With very little too judge between the two after two frames, Harris finally scored the takedowns he sought in the third round. Nakamura (15-11) worked back to his feet from the first effort, and he used the rope-grabbing to try and prevent the second, but Harris (19-4) slammed him to the mat anyway en route to claiming a split-decision victory.

In the fourth and final bantamweight grand prix contest of the night, WEC vet Antonio Banuelos used a few third-round takedowns to secure a razor-thin split-decision win over the ultra-experienced Hideo Tokoro after two rounds of back-and-forth striking action.

Both fighters had their moments on the feet, as punches, kicks and knees came flying from each combatants. A second-round head kick scored for Tokoro, but he was unable to score a takedown just after the blow. Banuelos took control of the momentum with the third-round takedowns, and he avoided a few earnest submission attempts while controlling the positioning. At the final bell, two of the three judges awarded Banuelos (19-7) the razor-thin win over Tokoro (30-24-1) based on full-fight evaluation.

Brazilian bantamweight Bibiano Fernandes needed less than one minute to dispatch of Takafumi Otsuka in their tournament quarterfinal. Otsuka came out firing punches, but Fernandes simply ducked under the blows, took the fight to the floor and then secured the back in a scramble. Fernandes (9-3) quickly locked in a rear-naked choke, and Otsuka (12-9-1) refused to tap, instead content to fall unconscious just 41 seconds into the contest.

In the second bantamweight grand prix bout of the night, leg-lock specialist Masakazu Imanari showed he’s capable of collecting arms, as well, tapping Abel Cullum with a brilliant third-round armbar.

The first two rounds provided an exiting mix of Imanari submission and Cullum ground-and-pound, but “Ashikan Judan” took over in the final frame. A few looping hoops stunned Cullum, but Imanari would eventually earn the finish on the floor. A lazy kick was caught, and Imanari was dumped on his back, but as Cullum looked to follow in, his opponent trapped the arm and contorted the limb in grotesque fashion, forcing the tap.

The non-stop submission attacks were vintage Imanari (24-9-2), and while Cullum (18-6) was game for two rounds, he was forced to relent just 46 seconds into the final round.

The night’s first bantamweight grand prix fight saw an entertaining grappling battle between Rodolfo Marques and Yusup Saadulaev, but the Brazilian did just enough to book a spot in the semifinals.

Marques attacked early and often with a variety of submission attempts in seemingly non-stop fashion. But a gritty Saadulaev survived each and every attempt while also sweeping to top position on a number of occasions. Saadulaev (8-1-1) also threatened late with his own submission attempt and a beautiful trip takedown, but it would not be enough, as Marques (14-1) advanced to the next round of the tournament.

In the evening’s open contest, Japanese legend Ikuhisa Minowa made quick work of the much-larger Baru Harn.

Sporting a 62-pound weight advantage over his opponent, Harn looked to bullrush Minowa in the early going. However, Minowa simply evaded the charge and scored his own quick takedown. With knees on the ground outlawed in the modified-rules bout, Minowa simply focused on controlling the positioning while searching for submission openings. It came in the closing seconds of the first frame, as Minowa (50-32-8) shifted to side control, secured the right arm in his leg and shifted his hips to tap Harn (1-2) with a rarely seen scarf-hold armlock.

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